Animals - I am wondering where the humans are…

Early morning, in the core area of Tadoba Forest- Wagdoh male was tired (if you do not know, it’s the name of the Tiger) as a part of the daily routine hunting for food throughout the night. See, being nocturnal, it's important for us! 

Now, it started to murmur loudly, "Oh my god! The daylight is here now. I am going to be disturbed by the noises of the vehicles and our funny humans, who will pelt stones at me and call me. I wonder if they ever handled a paw swipe force of a tiger, which is estimated to be around 10,000 lbs. A large male tiger, like me, when enraged, it is estimated to be around 18,000 lbs.  

Anyways, we are always cool you know, we give a look and a loud roar and that is enough to terrify them and drive chills down their spines. (The consensus is that a loud-enough sound could cause an air embolism in your lungs, which then travels to your heart and kills you humans. Alternatively, your lungs might simply burst from the increased air pressure. High-intensity ultrasonic sound, generally anything above 20 KHz, can cause physical damage). Time started to tick and we did not hear any noises, which are very common during this hour of the day. For a change, every now and then there is only one covered vehicle, which is moving towards the exit of the outer fence. I became very curious and wanted to know what is wrong. I was very cautiously in the hideout and camouflaged by the bushes, moved towards the path leading towards the exit of the core area. I was shocked to see no people on the either side of the road, not pulling out the binoculars or their huge cameras and everyone looking tensed. I wondered if any of my siblings or my rivals killed a human, which would be dangerous for us species since the uniformed men would then go after us and kill us. 

Now many thoughts crossed my mind on what has gone wrong. I always knew where to get such information as we always had an informer near the gate who would tell us what is happening in the forest, among the visitors, government policies and so on and so forth. I slowly and cautiously made my way towards the gate. There is a thick bush near the gate from where your camouflage can be perfect and you can be hidden for hours and eavesdrop on the conversations. We, inhabitants of this forest, use this space to know what the plan of the humans every day is and then pass this information across our 625.4 sq.kms. within a couple of minutes since we have all kinds of birds, animals that can move and communicate quickly. We don't need a cell phone!

I sat quietly in the bush near the gate to hear what is happening. There was tension but no informer yet. I was getting impatient as to what was happening inside. Finally, I was tired and sick of waiting and I slept. I don't know for how long I had slept but I woke up to the familiar voice of my informer. He was speaking over the cell phone that the guesthouses are cleared, forest area is cleared, the vehicles have been sent back to the garage for repairs and the forest is sealed. These words were like a death sentence to me since such things are done when they want to do some damage to us or the forest. I was alone here, no one came to this space and I did not see any marks or footprints. I was getting worried and was tensed with curiosity and wanted to go to him and ask, "Hey! What the hell is happening here, can someone tell me?” I know my sight will instantly trigger many other activities, which is like a suicide mission. I calmed myself and wanted to wait with patience as I found this place safer now. 

A couple of hours passed. The informer was silent and sent back anybody who came to the reserve. In the meanwhile, a deer came near the gate, which saw me and ran helter- skelter. This led to the informer looking around to see why that sudden behaviour. I was ready to run, as I know I can reach speeds of 30- 40 miles per hour so not a problem. That too in the forest, it's not easy for someone to catch me until you drug me. Then,  by lunchtime, there was  a Forest Ranger on a two-wheeler, who came with some food for my informer.  

The real conversation started. The Forest Ranger enquired him about the status. He told him that the humans have some disease, which will spread among them if they sneeze, cough or touch and will ultimately lead to their death. I could not believe my ears since the humans spit, blow nose loudly, cough on the plants when to come to the forest. And, we have not damaged them at all. How did this happen? I wanted to know more and I moved a little closer to get better information. He told that the government has declared that the entire human race should be locked in their houses for the next 21 days. Technically, the humans have been put into the reserve landscape of their own where no one can come or go. Now, I was more happy and brave. 

I slowly came out of my hideout. My informer screamed with fear.

To be continued...

Shivaram S Vinjamuri 

Corporate Coach and Wildlife Enthusiast